


Sleight of Hand

by aldiara



Category: Spartacus Series (TV), Spartacus: War of the Damned
Genre: Double Drabble, Drabble Day 2016, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-08
Updated: 2016-11-08
Packaged: 2018-08-29 20:53:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8504998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aldiara/pseuds/aldiara
Summary: The drawing of the stones, remixed.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the "Roll" prompt on [Drabble Day 2016](http://asylums.insanejournal.com/drabbleday/).
> 
> Later expanded into a longer Castus/Sabinus story, [The White Stone](http://archiveofourown.org/works/13042341/chapters/29832465).

At his first glimpse of white in his slowly opened palm, Sabinus was not surprised: some part of him had known all along that this would happen. Of the two of them, it had always been Tiberius who was born under Fortuna’s protection, meant for great things, safe under the indulgent hand of the goddess. A part of Sabinus was relieved, even, thinking, _Yes, this is right; this is how this goes; anything for you._

Tiberius’s hands closed suddenly over his; fingers moving against his own, the smooth round shape of two stones shifting, rolling between them. A simple trick. 

***

The dull reality of the black stone sat in his palm. He raised his head in shock to meet Tiberius’s burning gaze, a small smile above the steady hand holding the white stone, and realised – too late – that he was, after all, not the only one afflicted by feelings that ran too deep; Tiberius, truly his father’s son, had merely been better at dissembling.

A white stone, swapped for black. A simple trick, not worth the price of life for death. Sabinus has no notion what to do with such a gift, or how to live now with the guilt.


End file.
